Virtual reality porn and the future of loneliness
techcrunch.com
techcrunch.com
Masturbation is natural, normal and healthy, and it's about time we stop the false "watches porn = lonely loser" equation.
And we do this without even achieving a scientific consensus on regular pornography and it's impact - without even understanding the results of the previous technology, if any. Maybe we should understand that before?
I am pretty much for being open and accepting of our own humanity (desires, flaws, quirks), without tabooing the fuck out of everything and trying to control what other individuals think and do with themselves. Education, information, critical thinking and a sharp change of culture into acceptance is what I think we need, not a "safe process".
Just out of curiosity , would you apply similar rules to hard drugs ? Are the any limits to your approach , places where a slower process that tries to minimize risks, should be applied ?
I emphasize critical thinking, so yeah I think there are limits to my approach, especially when it concerns other people more directly (e.g. hurting others is not ok).
Process is generally warranted as well when a large group of people have to interact directly and the consequences are more fatal, such as traffic. In fact, I am pretty much for there being processes, not necessarily for minimizing risks, but to reduce conflict in a functioning society. What I don't like, I guess, is micro-managing daily behavior of people without a very good reason.
EDIT: I also think process should be revised constantly for an evolving society, again, with an emphasis in acceptance and critical thinking, not just accepting the status quo. The last thing we need is 18th century law causing problems today.
Masturbation is fine, but that longing for real human connection, that is something that I don't think is replaceable by any of these forms. Even conversations spread across strangers, it just feels like trying to fit together a jigsaw puzzle with the wrong pieces.
Yes, people in relationships, with sex lives watch porn. Good for them. They aren't the ones we should be concerned about; they aren't the ones whose behavior is (or risks becoming) maladptive.
I think you're drawing a false identity here — between people who use porn to supplement their sex lives, and people for whom porn is their sex life — and treating the valuable and well-warranted concern for the latter as criticism of the whole.
If that's what someone genuinely wants, and it's what makes them happy [1], then good for them.
[1] As opposed simply to being a means of getting off while avoiding the risk and vulnerability that human intimacy tends to require.
Even then, if that's the choice they're making, it's their life, I guess. I've just known a few people who did make that choice, and invariably, they felt wretched about it.
Because of the act itself, or the social stigma put upon the act?
http://www.clearonmoney.com/dw/doku.php?id=public:japan_demo...
Now if only we could accept as a society that sex is natural, normal, and healthy, and that it is a standard part of healthy functioning relationships.
Porn wouldn't be half as popular, I believe, were creep-shaming and the entire romantic-industrial complex not so pervasive.
Sexual images that are illegal would still be illegal in VR?
There's some evidence that while short-term(a few years) monogamy is natural , long-term one isn't . this book talks about it:
http://www.amazon.com/Sex-Dawn-Stray-Modern-Relationships-eb...
Illegal sexual imagery in VR is a thing. So long as it is digitally created, I have no reason to think that it carries with it the intrinsic moral wrongness of whatever the equivalent analog act would have. That said, there's a clear counter argument that providing that sort of material normalizes the behavior.
What I think will be more interesting is looking at the IP claims to come out of VR and teledildonics...being sued by a former lover for, say, continuing to hold onto and operate recordings of their performance.
It's all rather entertaining.
While not dead certain I speculate that we could reverse global warming by powering off all the child pornography servers.
http://www.warplife.com/jonathan-swift/books/software-proble...
I regard Microsoft's Bing Image search as the most-egregious offender.
Clark County Washington Deputy C. Bull suggested I notify the FBI. "The FBI obviously knows about it," I replied. "There must be some reason they don't enforce the law. I have some theories but really I do not know."
My essay is a very rough draft but far enough along that you can see where I am going with it.
> For most people (the asexual population and the abstaining Japanese youth notwithstanding), sex with another person, especially in the context of meaningful intimacy, is a source of joy.
> Watching porn by yourself all the time, although physically stimulating, is spiritually the opposite of this.
Participating in autosexual intercourse can absolutely be both meaningful and a powerful source of joy. It consists in the appreciation of one's own body, mind, and spirit as a full and complete flowering of the universe. Consensual sensory experiences allow that being to approach its own devotion fully.
On a less metaphysical note, this is really a marvelous denouement to the sexual brinksmanship that's infested society over the past few millenia.
From an individual perspective, I love having sex with myself. When partners I find attractive want to share, so much the better. It's not as much fun trying to convince them to, though, that part pretty much sucks, and this provides the best BATNA ever in that negotiation.
There's already a hit song about basically this. From 1979. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZF4Z6smOrZw Also related: this film from 1973 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westworld .
Obviously as with the others a little bit is not an issue. But it gets in the way of life for some people.
Sure, you might end with a different next generation that has the fear of VR built into them, or the entire human race will die, out, but its nothing to concern yourself with.
I Love You Miss Robot, Electronic tease... programmed just to please. etc.
Anyway, before embarking on regular VR sessions with pr0n, see this video first [2]
More like _divide_ the relationships between humans.
On the other hand, I realize that women aren't going to sit still, and they're probably going to have to adapt to this new world, meaning they'll possibly follow along and slowly dating might become mostly virtual.
As an Norwegian i came upon an article a year or two ago, based on book by a social scientist that had found that the Norwegian family was changing.
As the female part of the population has gained more equal economic terms, a pattern had emerged where a single "stud" man was being passed around from woman to woman. Once she found herself pregnant he was shown the door.